EdTech: Boundless Is Re-imagining Educational Material

There is no question that the traditional textbook will soon be a thing of the past. They are, simply put, outdated. A science textbook from 2009 is filled with information that has since been proven wrong, or has since been updated to a significant degree. It does not make sense to keep using such resources. This is where startups like Boundless come in. Boundless has re-imagined class material. Boundless offers teachers and students, “provides ready-to-use content, tools, and test materials to make teaching more efficient and the process of learning more effective. It gives educators everywhere the tools to personalize and create resources to ?t what they need, in a way that is accessible and user-friendly.”1 We had a chance to ask the Boundless team a few questions about their product:

What is Boundless?

Boundless improves education for millions of students and educators through educational resources powered by cloud technology. Built with a community of educators, who work side-by-side with experts and students, Boundless provides ready-to-use content, tools, and test materials to make teaching more efficient and learning more effective.

Who is Boundless for? Who are your users?

Boundless serves educators and learners across a wide spectrum of uses. Our educational content is geared at the introductory college-level, so we see a number of college students and professors using Boundless as study or teaching resources. Additionally, all of our core content is available for free on the web, so we serve folks looking to brush up on topics, study for AP exams, and more.

What makes Boundless different than what is currently available?

Boundless provides educational content powered by cloud technology that is modular, flexible, and affordable. For educators sensitive to the costs their students pay for learning materials, Boundless is the perfect solution. Educators will find a suite of teaching resources, including an assessment bank and PowerPoint slides, freely available for immediate use in the classroom.

Why did you get involved in the Ed-Tech space?

Of all of the pieces of the learning equation, the one most ripe for disruption is the educational content industry. Textbooks remain the core content for most courses in higher education, yet they’re completely obsolete: expensive, disconnected relics of an analog age. Technology has improved quality and reduced the costs of production and distribution in almost every other content-centered industry. Boundless was founded to make education more affordable and accessible for learners everywhere.

Tell us about your team and their backgrounds

Ariel Diaz, CEO and founder of Boundless, is an experienced entrepreneur with an incredible passion for improving the educational landscape for generations to come. Before Boundless, Ariel co-founded YouCastr, an online video platform that enabled hundreds of high schools to broadcast and sell live sports and other events to parents and the community. In addition, Ariel founded a consumer web consulting company and worked in management consulting in Boston, MA. Ariel holds a A.B., B.E., and Masters of Engineering Management from Dartmouth College, speaks three languages, and loves all things orange.

Matt Hodgson, CTO of Boundless, is an entrepreneur and engineer with an insatiable desire to design and build amazing products. Before Boundless, Matt built consumer products as the CTO of TurningArt, a service that makes art more accessible to everyday people. Matt has also worked with Ariel in the past, as co-founder and CTO of YouCastr, a streaming video platform for high schools. Along the way Matt also developed the core products and technology for many startups, including video processing and transcoding infrastructure for 3 Play Media, motion capture and analysis software for Equusys, a live trading market for StarStreet, and a video streaming and recording platform for Take The Interview. Matt holds a B.A. in Physics from Ithaca College, a B.E. and Masters of Engineering Management from Dartmouth College, and serves on the board of the Dartmouth Boston Entrepreneur Network.

Molly Lindsay, VP of Content, leads content development and partnerships at Boundless. Molly joined Boundless from McKinsey and Co., where she led strategy projects for clients in the private, public, and social sectors. Previous professional experience includes evaluating high-growth startups in emerging markets as part of the portfolio expansion team at Endeavor, as well as developing K-12 curriculum at Expeditionary Learning. Molly holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in History from Yale University, where she graduated with honors. She teaches media studies as an adjunct professor at Bunker Hill Community College, speaks Mandarin, and loves living in Boston.

What do your current goals look like?

Boundless is focused on making access to high-quality educational content a right, not a privilege. To do so, we’re working with educators to create and improve content within Boundless. We recently opened our platform up for contributions from the academic community, so educators can edit and improve existing content or add their own. This community approach to educational content will help increase access and engage more students.